Outside | Outside Online

You Are Here:

Home >>

Kelly Slater on His One Track Mind<...

The Spoke Word: New Winter Cycling ...

iPhone Fitness Apps

The 405 is still more dangerous

Sports in Space

Q&A: Climbing El Capitan with Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin, and Ivo Ninov listen

Q&A: Maggie Anthony On Son Eric Volz listen

Q&A: Photographer Danny Clinch listen

Q&A: "Coca Is It!" Author Joshua Hammer listen

Q&A: "Strange Bird" Author Carl Hoffman listen

Out of Bounds: That '70s Guy listen

Jack Johnson Cover Shoot

Grand Canyon: 3D IMAX

Climbing El Capitan

Castaway:

Episode 1: The Arrival

Episode 2: The Quest for Fire

Episode 3: Mmm...Slime Nuggets

Episode 4: "Last Night, a Crab Tried to Eat Me."

What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer

Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer

How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Why do mosquito bites itch? answer

Are elite athletes just lucky genetic mutants? answer

Can women really tolerate cold water better than men? answer

Online Favorites

"Into Thin Air"

Best Adventure Books

The O Files: Unsolved Mysteries

Dream Towns

Dream Jobs

Special Issues

Family Road Trips

Interactive Colorado

Literary All-Stars

Adventure Lodges

Oceanic Endeavors

Adventure Goddesses

Photo Galleries

Malia Jones

Amanda Beard

Julia Mancuso

Women Who Rock

Kelly Slater

Olympic Cities

Exposure: Sara Carlson

See All Galleries

Outside magazine, June 2001

1. Tow-In Board	2. Big Wave Gun
What to look for: 7'2" length; 9.5" nose, 16" widepoint, 11.15" tail; 2.1" thickness; tri-fin array In the sixties, highly. . . imaginative surf cartoonists sketched fantastic visions of a future that always seemed devoid of gravity, oil dependence, and statutes against psychotropic drugs. Nothing they dreamed up, however, rivals the phenomenon of tow-in surfing, in which Jet Skiborne lunatics set upon outer-reef waves up to 50 feet tall with cartoonish abandon. The boards? They have foot straps, thin and boxy rails, and—stay tuned for the rest: These floating tombstones are evolving rapidly.	What to look for: 9' to 10'6" length; 10" nose, 20" widepoint, 9.75" tail; 3" thickness "If you want to hunt rhinos, don't take a BB gun." So sayeth Buzzy Trent, the hellman who led the charge into the giant surf on Oahu's North Shore in the late 1950s. Today's rhino chaser has a few more fins, but it's still designed with a single purpose: to remain stable at high speed. The size makes it easy to paddle, three fins add horsepower in driving turns, and the narrow tail and straightish plan shape help the board stick to that beast of a wave face.
3. Classic Longboard	4. Hybrid Funboard
What to look for: 9' to 10' length; 17.5" nose, 22.5" widepoint, 14.5" tail; 3" thickness; single fin Whether they're shaped from balsa, Hawaiian Koa wood (heavy as wet plywood, but oh so cool), or composites of superlight foam and fiberglass, these stable boards are built to do one thing well—glide, baby, glide. Classics don't have much rocker, so they tend to plow, bargelike, through surf. That's good, because the soft (rounded) rails and single rudderlike fin aren't designed for quick turning anyway. Quaint? Sure. But the design still works. Especially for those who want to stand tall, relax, and surf like portly Hawaiian kings.	What to look for: 5'6" to 8'2" length; 12.75" nose, 20.5" widepoint, 14.5" tail; 2.65" to 2.75" thickness; tri-fin array Once derided as beer-belly boards, today's hybrids are anything but. They paddle long but surf short. The speed comes from tri-fin arrays, the loose feel from ample rocker, and the responsiveness from thin rails. They're ideal for "aging" experts--anybody over 25 who no longer surfs 150 days a year—but may also be perfect for beginners, since they don't pearl (nose-dive on takeoff) as readily as reduced-rocker longboards. And getting used to a seven-footer makes it easier to switch to a shortboard later.
5. Modern Longboard	6. Postmodern Fish
What to look for: 9' length; 18" nose, 22" widepoint, 14" tail; 2.5" to 2.85" thickness; tri-fin array Its silhouette may not seem all that different from its classic ancestor's, but in many ways the modern longboard is more like its sub-seven-foot cousin, the shortboard. Lightweight with a streamlined plan shape and a tri-fin array, it's fast. Yet relatively hard rails and ample rocker make it surprisingly maneuverable. Challenging enough for even the most experienced surfers, it's also nice for beginners because it's so easy to paddle. The first step in surfing, after all, is catching a wave.	What to look for: 6' length; 14" nose, 19.75" widepoint, 15" tail; 2.25" thickness; tri-fin array Skinny, excessively rockered shortboards are fine for pros but next to impossible for everyone else to handle. The wider postmodern fish is a wiser option. Short enough to fit into the critical areas of a barrel, the design employs a full-figured plan shape and reduced rocker for whiplash-inducing acceleration. Thin rails make it easy to carve. In fact, the fish is so easy to ride that contest judges dock points from surfers using it. No matter. Nobody on the beach will know it's the board, and not you.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Tow-In Board ($1,000) Gerry Lopez Surfboards 541-388-3403; www.gerrylopezsurfboards.com Big Wave Gun ($465) Rusty Surfboards 858-578-0414; www.rustysurfboards.com Classic Longboard ($690) Hobie Surfboards/Surftech 831-479-4944; www.surftech.com Hybrid Funboard ($600) Evolution Surfboards 888-386-4249; www.evolutionsurf.com Modern Longboard ($600) Stewart Surfboards 949-492-1085; www.stewartsurfboards.com Postmodern Fish ($425) Timmy Patterson Surfboards 949-366-2022; www.tpatterson.com

Back to Intro